Overview

Smith Willis is said to have been the son of Gedediah Willis of Wayne County, PA. [1]
Smith Willis appears in southwest Virginia after the Revolution, marrying Mary Mullen in 1792. Sometime after 1800 he relocated to Wayne County, KY, settling on Otter Creek. Here Mary died about 1828. In his later years Smith relocated a final time, to Morgan County, TN, where his daughter Elizabeth was living. Smith married Eleanor Fulton about 1836, by whom, at age 75, he had a son David Willis. Smith died about 1840.

Sometime after 1808 Smith Willis patented a parcel of land on Otter Creek, Wayne County KY.

Footnotes

↑ "Gedediah is most likely a variant of "Jedediah", Andrew Guffy, a researcher of the Smith Willis line, considers Gedediah to "probably be" Smiths father. Direct evidence to support this is unknown. There is a Gedediah Willis in Wayne and ___Counties, PA, in the 1790 and 1800 censuses; they are presumably the same person. There is a need to marshall the evidence, or at least provide a rationale for believing that Gedediah is Smiths father.